There's also no denying that Liverpool has overextended itself just a bit with Wipeout 2048. At its best, it's incredibly fast and beautiful; breathless, even. The little compromises chip away at the experience though, from the framerate to the slightly chunkier handling. It's a tremendous racer as always; but as far as grand ambitions go, Liverpool has fallen a tiny bit short.

A pleasant bastion of everything that drew so many to this genre long ago. Amusing characters, a rich setting and great mechanics all smoothly coalesce to create a surprising and thoroughly enjoyable tale, prompting us to speculate that our little PSPs are far from retirement. We're ready for part 2.

Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail is a slow start to the next narrative arc of the critically acclaimed MMORPG. Despite having a set of gorgeous new zones to explore, and some exciting new dungeons and Trials, the middling narrative holds this expansion back from being truly great.

With amusing unlockable bonuses and three (and a half) solid, good-looking games, you'll get plenty of mileage out of this one if you have the bare minimum one like-minded friend who makes playing fighting games worthwhile.

Despite the blood stains and ransacked rooms, I’m having a blast so far.

Even with DOA single-player, Payday 2 offers a lot of bang for a below-average asking price. Debuting at $30 on Steam, its co-op action is gangbusters with the right crew of like-minded individuals. Better AI and a few more clever gameplay flourishes could have pushed it into must-play territory.

The subject material is ghastly, but Valiant Hearts has the right mix of emotion and entertainment to make enduring the Great War worthwhile.

As cheesy horror goes, you've never had it this pretty or entertaining but when it comes to a one off experience, Until Dawn is expensive interactive terror.

Impressively, the game takes full advantage of the PSP’s analogue stick giving it an incredibly responsive feel. You’re given a sense of total control over each vehicle and the subtle nuances between the cars and bikes are instantly apparent.

This game is arguably the best attempt made by an indie developer to bring the roguelike genre into the mainstream thus far.

If you've played any Diablo-style RPG and any Monkey Island-style adventure and enjoyed them, you know you'll like DeathSpank. It's a hilarious and seamless combination of the two genres more than worthy of your 15 bucks and a couple weekends of your time.

Beautiful, creative and filled with knitted joy, LittleBigPlanet 3 does however disappoint in its Adventure mode’s comparatively sparse content. Nonetheless, it hands over an impressive array of exceptional design tools for budding creators.

Although Ubisoft missed the mark in creating a genuinely unique, futuristic setting, the tactical, slow-paced gameplay and unique squad-based experience sets Future Soldier apart from the typical shooter.

Some may find issue with its two- to three-hour length, while others may find its focus on discovery to be boring. But there's a lot to be found in that world made of invisible ink, and for those willing to experiment and approach it with an open mind, the act of uncovering it all is an exciting experience--even if you do have to get your hands dirty with a little paint in the process.

In spite of nagging camera problems and an intimidatingly complicated battle system, Dissidia is an outstanding fighter that does a fantastic job of giving Final Fantasy fans exactly what they want.

Pokemon Let's Go is a superb surprise, a fully-fledged Pokemon RPG with interactivity that brings the series to life in a way that's never been done before.

With a great interface and the best source material possible, The New York Times Crosswords is a must-have for any crossword fan on the go.

The single-player may be over in a day or two, but you'll spend many more happy weeks and months starting skirmishes or challenging friends online.

Although it’s beset by blandish graphics and wickedly uneven difficulty, Prototype delivers a fast-paced, relentlessly amoral and wonderfully brutal sandbox adventure in a detailed city filled with cool things to see and do.

With some very good puzzles, a solid story, and a consistently strong atmosphere, Routine is doing anything but going through the motions. You may not feel over the moon about the stealth elements, but there's not a trace of the protracted development period.

While not a huge departure from the original Dead Rising template, Dead Rising 2's concession to friendlier game-saves and excellent addition of a creative and funny weapon-crafting system make it a rewarding and gleefully entertaining experience. But alas, the corpse-killing hijinks are noticeably marred by some inexcusable hark-backs to archaic game design. A lot of fun then, but with some definite frustrations.

Its deep customizability and visceral biff-bam-pow make it crazy addictive, and it doesn't get old.

This is not just another falling brick game; Hexic is a keen evolution of the genre that gives the player a lot more credit than most puzzle games do.

Pictures don't do Rochard justice; it's gorgeous and overflowing with color from beginning to end. If you've got free time and ten bucks to spare, Rochard is worth its weight in unobtanium (or whatever obscure space rock they were looking for before Rochard started shooting people in the head).

Deep, intelligent, intense, and utterly unlike any experience before it, Alien: Isolation presents all that's truly great about AAA, and also its evolution.

Relentlessly charming despite its dark heart, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney handles moments of sweeping sadness as easily as it does comedy awfulness.

CastleStorm offers plenty of tactical elements to please fans of the tower-defense genre, yet it also provides plenty of twitch-reflex action to keep players on their toes.

Die-hard players...will certainly get $40 worth of fun out of this release. 12 new characters is huge, and exploring the interplay between them and the tweaked returning cast will provide hours of fun. The much improved online interface is also a huge draw for competitive players. Ultimately (pun intended), the vast majority of UMVC3's new features will only really be appreciated by dedicated players, and for them it's a must have, for everyone else though, it's a harder sell.